ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY. 59 



Drift wood (log?) 2 



Drab colored clay 21 



Hardpan 12 



Drab colored clay 3 



Greenish clay 10 



San*), &e 5 



Total depth 137 



The sand bed at the bottom of this well served as a recepta- 

 cle for the gas. which was held imprisoned by the impervious 

 given clay above until it was penetrated by the drill, and thus 

 given a free outlet to the surface. 



Indications of the presence of gas in the drift clays have been 

 ol iserved at several localities in northern and central Illinois, 

 but whether it is generated in the deposit where it is found, or 

 in the stratified rocks below, is an unsolved problem, that must 

 b> settled by future investigations. Its presence is purely local, 

 and two boring's with the diamond drill at Clinton, which 

 passed entirely through the drift deposits, and extended into 

 the underlying coal measures failed to reveal the presence of 

 gas at either point. 



In 1871, gas was found on the farm of Win. A. Wilson, in 

 Macon county, ten miles south-east of Decatur, at the depth of 

 forty-five feet below the stir-face. It was stored in a bed of 

 quick sand below a deposit of hardpan, and was encountered at 

 several localities on the farm. The bed of quicksand was pene- 

 trated to the depth of fifteen feet without reaching the bottom. 

 The character of the underlying bed was not determined, but if 

 it was shown to be one of the old mucky soils frequently inter- 

 stratified with the drift beds, that would furnish a possible ex- 

 planation of the origin of the gas. Mr. Wilson utilized the flow 

 by conveying it to his dwelling, where it was used for a time for 

 both light and fuel. 



A quarter of a mile east of this gas well a boring was made, 

 which passed through a bed of black soil, but no gas was found. 

 This might be due to the character of the overlying stratum, 

 which may have been too porous to prevent the escape of the 

 gas to the surface. 



(las from the superficial deposits of drift clay and gravel, has 

 been found in numerous localities in Illinois, but generally not 

 in such quantity as to justify any attempt to utilize it for do- 

 mestic uses. The counties of Champaign, Bureau. LaSalle, Liv- 



